tête-à-tête

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For several minutes Onyedikachi only stared longingly at Obanma while she slept. Her curly hair had become messy, creeping out of the hair net where it was secured. She was truly beautiful and he could picture himself staring at her all the days of his life without tiring of the act.

She didn't snore and her soft breathing,
only evident through the rise and fall of her chest. His gaze lingered on her nipple which pointed through his shirt and he found himself relishing the moment they had shared in the bathroom. He had watched her roll around the bed, changing positions randomly, a laughter threatened to escape his lips but he stifled it, holding it back with his hands clamped over his mouth. It was the amusement that quelled his arousal and lessen the hard on that had instinctively sprouted out in the morning from thinking about her. 

Obanma rolled back to his side of the bed, her body diagonal to his and with time crept onto his body. He lightly patted her hair, feeling the texture with his hands.

Her hair wasn't the typical wooly African hair but it gave the appearance like it was. He straightened a curl on her hair and she moved away from his body, sighing satisfactorily. For a while Onyedikachi was worried that she had woken up and that his plan had been furled but she slept back immediately muttering I love you to the bed.

A little stem of jealousy budded in his heart as he felt powerless against infiltrating her mind and dream to figure out who she had professed love to.

Her eyes began to flutter and he quickly shut his, it was his cue.

Somehow he could feel her gaze honing on him but he stilled himself, pretending to be in a deep sleep. Her hand reached out and touched his face and his manhood immediately withdrew from its hibernating state. It stirred up like a an activist charged up for protest and he was grateful that his lower abdomen had been hidden by a duvet. 

Obanma placed a gentle kiss on his forehead then reclined her head on the pillow just staring at him. Her lips came to his, lingered for a moment then withdrew. She then reached out for his hand beneath and linked it with hers.

 "I dreamt we were at the altar with a little boy and he made us say I love you" She whispered.

Onyedikachi rolled slowly to where she lay pleased that she had professed love to him in her dream,  he spread his hand on top of her. He had slipped it out of her grip while Obanma chuckled. He caged her in with his arms and soon rolled on top of her. 

For a while she lay silently beneath him until he felt himself poke her belly. She gasped loudly and began to squish underneath him. He discovered that she was trying to shake him off her body. It was very amusing because he knew how heavy he was. 

Onyedikachi further worsened the situation by engulfing part of her face in his rolling fiasco. Obanma muttered words beneath him, words that didn't sound coherent enough because he had made sure to cover her mouth with his hands whilst pretending to be in a deep sleep. Her arms were immobile buried in the bed by his weight and so was her body. 

"Oooommyi gggg offf mmmmdy! " After minutes of fruitless protests that left her exasperated , Onyedikachi climbed off her and began to laugh. 

She didn't wait for him to completely get off her as she jumped on him, hitting him everywhere at once. It didn't lessen his amusement either but she didn't seem happy with his prank. 

"Do you want to kill me? Eh!" She asked as she found the pillow a suitable object to show her fury. 

"Do you know how heavy you are! Jesus! You don't look what you weigh! And you were awake the whole time!" She kept hitting him with her pillow till he restrained the object pulling her to the bed. 

"You look very beautiful when you're upset" He declared with a grin as she struggled to hit him with her hand which he now secured above her head. 

"Okay… O Zuo la that's enough. You've won" Obanma relaxed beneath him and he released his grip slowly still cautious about receiving another hit. 

"Now we're even" He teased while she pounced on him again. In the bid to avoid her Onyedikachi rolled out of the bed and landed with a thud on the ground. 

Terrified, Obanma raced to the spot and he began to groan like he was in deep pain. 

"Onyi ndo sorry was it painful? " The words had barely left her lips before she was pulled onto his body. He rolled over so that she was beneath and he stared at her with longing and a knowing smile. She was very much aroused just as he was, her nipples had been begging to be touched. 

"You didn't think I wouldn't get back at you for Owerri. The kicks and the sexual abuse?" 

Obanma chuckled as she recalled the event. "I was unconscious, you on the other hand have abused me sexually while conscious all thanks to the belly poking action of your wood" Onyedikachi could see a blush creep up her face but she tried to hide it with a smile. 

"Adim well loaded" He taunted with a wink and she quaked uncontrollably with laughter. 

"Mma kee k'ayi ga eme ife a, How do we go about this? We need to settle this right now" 

"You tell me, you're the business prodigy.Is it not in ya brood" She replied in amusing tone, her hands trailing softly on his face and down to his lips. 

"I say we call a truce and seal it with a kiss" She whispered seductively into his ears and his eyes gleaned with appreciation. 

"Si patrona" he huskily declared with a wicked glint in his eyes. 

He slowly captured her lips in a very sensual and slow kiss that sent shivers down Obanma's spine. How her body always managed to react to his touch was surprising. 

She had never appreciated his being bare chested more than she did that morning as her hands trailed satisfactorily over his body. She loved how taut and strong his body became whenever he kissed her. 

She watched him pull away and almost admonished him for breaking their kiss so quickly. He was fast becoming a drug and she whole heartedly surrendered to addiction. 

Onyedikachi scooped her up, drawing a giggle from her lips then placed her gently on the bed. Somehow as she waited anxiously for him to position himself over her she could only think of an alpha preparing to mark his mate. She liked that he hovered over irrespective of their position, It felt so natural. Onyedikachi kissed her toes which tickled her,then proceeded to adorn her knuckles with kisses. 

Obanma didn't understand why his kisses lingered on her fingers, he inhaled deeply as if he had momentarily transcended to another realm. 

Onyedikachi could see the confusion in her eyes as his gaze snapped to her face. He loved when he could read her emotions like his, he loved how her eyes gleamed with passion drawing him in for more. 

He had been thinking of how beautiful it would be to have a ring on her finger and a confirmation came through her dream. A symbol of their love that would proclaim to the world that she was his, his queen, his Mma. 

"Ọ gịnị? What is it?" He enquired with a grin as she smiled at him. 

"I just love the way you look at me sometimes. It's as if I'm an artifact in a museum worth millions. Sometimes it's scary and other times I find it sweet" 

Onyedikachi planted a kiss on her lips while her hands curled around his neck urging him to continue. "You're worth more than all the artifacts in the world combined". He muttered on her lips

Obanma almost sighed in exasperation when he pulled away. 

"When I'm with you, Mma you become my world.. Everything else fades away...it's just you" 

Obanma pulled his head down and kissed him aggressively,she felt her kisses would speak better than words. Onyedikachi's tongue set out to her ear after he had intimately explored her mouth. He teased her ear, his hands slowly lighting up her body from her breasts down to her belly. A random thought occurred to him and he paused while she sighed languorously. 

"Mma what was the king's proposal?" 

Obanma almost laughed at his sudden change in demeanor as he questioned her. She already hated the way he sent her nerves on fire then abruptly put the fires off. She hated the breaks he was taking. 

"He wanted me to go out with him" She lied, quite worried that he would have reacted negatively to him proposing to her. 

"You're not going right?" He prodded once more, he hated that maybe he sounded like a jealous teenager but Mma wasn't to be shared especially with a man who couldn't get his name right. 

"If I say no will you kiss me?" Obanma replied with a taunting smile. 

"Qui mon reine" He huskily declared with glint

Obanma couldn't hold it in this time and quaked uncontrollably with laughter,her eyes questioned him of the phrases he let out. 

"I used to watch lots of telenovelas with my mother" 

"I love you" She finally declared after laughing so hard. It seemed to set his hormones ablaze and this time he hungrily claimed her lips. Onyedikachi helped her out of his shirt which revealed her beautiful pert breasts begging to be touched . He made a move to speak but the words wouldn't come so he let his lips send a hidden message of love to her brown nipples. She released a tiny gasp followed by moans as her feet curled and uncurled around him. 

She offered more of herself with each sigh of pleasure and he relinquished his hands to not pleasuring but testing the weight of her breasts. The sight before him made him loathe the bathroom and Chijioke's invention. It had kept paradise away from him. 

Obanma returned his kisses fervently as his lips returned to her mouth. Her hands wandered to his manhood and he felt her tease slowly before reaching out to capture his full length in her hand. Onyedikachi inhaled deeply, then paused to really enquire from her what it was that she wanted. 

Obanma hated that he cared too much, she only wanted him to continue with making her feel good. Her passion lidded eyes were evident, her body thrummed in anticipation, she could feel them hum with sensations begging to be sated with his touch. 

She urged him on with a kiss and he let his hands drop to the band of her yellow panties. The color would have amused him if his mind was not in a zombie mode. His touch lingered on her waist line and she knew he was asking him for permission. She squirmed beneath him granting him access to the very vital part that wanted to be touched the most. 

He peeled off her undergarment then placed a kiss on her belly, this elicited sighs and moans she didn't even know she was capable of making . Embarrassment honed in on her like a figure as he grew hesitant to touch her, it began to dry up her confidence unlike the wetness in her inner thighs. 

When he caught her gaze, he smiled with an appreciation that suddenly made her shy. He suddenly withdrew from her and covered her with the duvet that had fallen off. She became confused because it seemed like the craving to be touched by Onyedikachi only put him off. 

Onyedikachi saw the myriad of confusing emotions that raced across her face, then broke the silence with "You are the most beautiful woman in the universe" 

"So.. . So why did you stop? Never mind I know why" 

"Mma I really have to tell you something and I'm afraid I can't let myself go further till we've spoken about it" Her face bore  uncertainty and fear as he spoke, Onyedikachi became worried that he had possibly made the worst mistake. 

"I also have something to tell you" She replied after inhaling deeply. 

"I don't know who has to go first. Courtesy would throw the ball into your court Mma but I'm afraid I might not know how to say this next time" He chuckled nervously. "It suddenly feels like I'm in a rush"

"Onyi calm down count to three and we'll say it at the same time" She suggested as her hands clasped his, reassuring him. He stared deep into her eyes and fell a hundred feet deeper in love with her. How did she complement him this much?

Onyedikachi counted to three, then let the words flow freely backed up by Obanma's declaration. 

"Obanma I want you to marry me" 

"Onyi I want you to make love to me" 

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Chidiogo paced fearfully in front of Chijioke's room before the angry looking security personnel in front of the room urged her to go inside. 

She could hear her heart almost leaving her chest, yet she maintained a blank face devoid of any sort of emotion. 

The boy Chijioke stared at her as she approached him, then signaled the menacingly looking large man to leave which he did. 

"Good afternoon ma" The boy curtly greeted which she reciprocated. 

"I didn't think you would come" He continued with an expression she found suspicious. Chidiogo didn't understand why the little boy she used to watch seemed so fearful at that moment. 

"You said you have news about my husband"

Guilt gnawed at her conscience as she remembered how he had groaned when Ekene's father stabbed him. 

She had almost screamed but was terrified that he would have stabbed her the same. 

Not once but twice she had seen him impale Chijioke with a knife and when she couldn't hold it anymore she ran out to meet the lunatic. 

"Did you kill him? You were supposed to scare him? You stabbed him!" 

From the look of surprise on the man's face, she was certain that he hadn't expected her to follow him. The stupid man definitely had his own agenda and somehow killing the boy was part of it. 

She despised the fact that she had been caught in a web she couldn't unentangle herself from. Somehow she feared Chijioke really believed it was her son Arinze who had tried to kill him. She couldn't even report to the police because she had been involved in the crime. Her sons would be utterly disappointed in her. 

"Why am I here?" She managed to speak after the boy failed to speak. 

"I know what you did" He declared tartly his eyes boring into hers. 

Her lips began to tremble almost immediately and she had the words of confession on her lips before he continued,interrupting her horrible attempt at being calm and calculated.

"And what exactly is tha..."

"I don't really care about it as you failed but this time you're not going to fail at what I'm going to tell you"

He relinquished a paper to her and she read through, tears pooled in her eyes and she wiped them away. For a while she felt the boy offered her a piteous look but it quickly dissipated. 

"Convince them to leave the land, without showing them this. It'll be better for everyone" 

The room suddenly felt stuffy and Chidiogo quickly ran out to grasp enough air. She bumped into the king who recognized and called her by her name but she quickly apologized and went away. 

Her world had crumbled brick by brick and her late husband Dozie had been the one who ripped her world apart right from his grave. 

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Hey Everyone!

How are we?

Sorry for the late update, I know this was supposed to come yesterday but I've been a bit busy.

Hope we enjoyed this chapter!

😜😜😜😜I can't wait for war in Odumeje' s voice.

So there are two proposals people! Hehehe

Are you thinking what I'm thinking!

What do you think Chidiogo saw?

Finally At war got nominated for best igbo book on wattnaija. 😊😊😊Don't really know how our lovebirds got there but I'm hoping we vote too through the link on my messageboard. 😂😂I've never truly entered any awards but I'm hoping we make something out of this one.